The Parade College Writing Workshop – Sebastian Rush: The 2020 NBA All-Star game

 

By Sebastian Rush

 

On the 16^th of February 2020, the 69^th NBA All-Star game took place at the United Centre in Chicago, Illinois. Although it was the 69^th All-Star game, the rules have differed from the other years. It was the first instalment of the Kobe Bryant MVP award, and it was the first year that both teams have had the chance to raise money for charities. The teams were chosen by the captains  in LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The final teams were:

 

Team Giannis                                                          Team Lebron

Joel Embiid (s)                                                        Anthony Davis (s)

Pascal Siakam (s)                                                   Luka Doncic (s)

Giannis Antetokounmpo (s)                                Lebron James (s)

Trae Young (s)                                                        Kawhi Leonard (s)

Kemba Walker (s)                                                  James Harden (s)

Bam Adebayo                                                         Nikola Jokic

Jimmy Butler                                                          Devin Booker

Rudy Gobert                                                           Chris Paul

Brandon Ingram                                                    Domantas Sabonis

Kyle Lowry                                                              Ben Simmons

Khris Middleton                                                     Jayson Tatum

Donovan Mitchell                                                  Russell Westbrook

 

Before the game started, both teams had lined up on the court and Magic Johnson reflected on the lives of David Stern and Kobe Bryant, who sadly passed away in the last half year. To show respect, Team Giannis wore the number 24 (Kobe’s number) and Team LeBron wore number 2 to respect Kobe Bryant’s daughter Gianna, who also sadly passed away in the helicopter crash which took nine lives.

 

The first quarter started with the tip-off being won by Anthony Davis for Team LeBron. Then Kawhi Leonard hit a three pointer off a pass from LeBron to score the first points for the 69^th All-Star game. This quarter was a big one as whichever team scored the most points in the quarter would raise $100,000 for charity. The first period was a high scoring one- the scores were 28-22 and every player contributed to the scorecard. The first substitutions of the game were called, seeing most of the All-Star reserves walking onto the court for the first time. For the rest of the quarter the lead stayed at a 10-point margin, which meant Team LeBron were up 53-41 and therefore led to $100,000 being donated to a charity.

 

The second period was a dominant quarter for Team Giannis, as they turned the game from being down by 12 to leading at half time by a total of 9 points. They were led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored 20 points for the quarter. The quarter was another high scoring one as Team Giannis scored a whopping 51 points to take the $100,000 to donate to charity. The scorecard was even amongst both teams as all players were scoring points. This was most likely because every player from each team are some of the best NBA players in the league, perhaps even to ever play the game, including the likes of LeBron James. Some highlights from this quarter included Kemba Walker breaking Sabonis’ ankles (not literally, just with some great moves), Chris Paul’s insane throw-own of an alley-oop and Kyle Lowry’s half-court alley-oop assist to Giannis.

 

It was the start of the second half and after a high scoring first half, the scoring continued with a dunk by the young 76er, Joel Embiid. He scored his eighth point of the game. It was then that the future star in Luka Doncic threw a clean alley-oop pass to the king himself; LeBron James. The quarter continued with the margin staying around 15 points, but the game pretty much went score for score. It was at the end of the third quarter, with Team LeBron trailing 124-133 and both teams scoring 41 points each, meaning the charity money was split between both teams. Like every All-Star game played over the years, the best player from the winning team is awarded the All-Star MVP award. At this stage if team Giannis won, Giannis would get this award but if Team LeBron won it would be awarded to the clear best player of the game in Kawhi Leonard.

 

The last quarter started, and the target score was announced; it would be the team to reach 157 points first who would win the game. Although Team Giannis only needed 24 points (nine less than Team LeBron), it wasn’t over yet. Team LeBron started firing as soon as the fourth quarter started. Russell Westbrook, who was quiet for most of the game, started to show glances of how good a player he is. He started to score as well as pass it off to open teammates. The score eventually reached 146-all and both teams started to go score for score. It reached 156-155 with Team LeBron leading. Then, there was a foul on Kyle Lowry, which sent Anthony Davis to the line needing one of two free throws to win the game. He missed the first one and it came down to the last free throw to win the game. He sunk it, leading Team LeBron to the win, with Kawhi Leonard winning the All-Star MVP award.

 

 

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